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There’s nothing sweeter in Milan than waking up; watching the morning sunshine, feeling the breeze, and hearing the sound of your higher-up turning the trajectory of your life around. Now try all that with a pounding headache."A whole family... all in one night?" Didier Deschamps, Chief Inspector of l'Équipe’s criminal unit, sounded as tired as Olivier himself felt. “I’m afraid so. As far as we know, all in the span of 2 months four diplomats have been found deceased in their homes. The cause of death is carbon monoxide poisoning, but the medical examiner is checking for presence of intoxicants.”
Olivier Giroud, l’Équipe criminal investigator, placed his head in his free hand, trying to shake off the fog of sleep. A while ago he heard Hugo mention a case such as this, but he didn’t prepare for how much it had escalated.
“As you already understand, this is a serious situation. These occurrences are very unlikely to be the result of an accident. The timeline of these deaths is supplying evidence pointing to a targeted attack. Whether it’s associated with an individual or a group. So the next step is to get to the root of the issue. We need one of our best to lead the operation.” Didier stated gravely. "And I believe that would be you.” “Back to Paris, then?”“Yes. I know it’s short notice, but it’d be of great help if you examine the suspects and find the leads we require. If this case spirals out of control, the trust between our citizens, our international counterparts and us will collapse. Thus national chaos will ensue.”Olivier wryly smiled. He knew that ‘of great help’ was a great implication that he had to be there by tomorrow morning. It wasn’t every Thursday morning that the Chief of the Parisian agency hits up your line. Then he winced at the shooting pains in his temple. He shouldn’t have taken so much wine last night. “You can count on my cooperation.”“Good to know.” Didier paused, hesitation curling around his voice, and Olivier knew he wasn’t going to like what he would say next.“Well. You’ll need a partner on this one.” Olivier braced himself. “Who?”“Kylian Mbappé. Consider him your shadow, at least for the time being. He holds a lot of talent, but it’s best to integrate him into detective duties gradually.”Olivier’s heart sank. He sighed and sat up to find his painkillers, already dreading the next interaction with his new ‘partner’. Didier’s tone left no room for argument. “Giroud. I need you to report to Clairefontaine as soon as possible. Remember, the investigation comes first. All prior altercations are to be set to the side.”“I’ll be there this evening.” He replied briskly.“See you soon, Giroud.”“Goodbye, sir.”Olivier stared out of the window after hanging up. He couldn’t help but wonder what awaited him. High-profile criminal cases were his specialty, and he relished the challenge of unraveling complex cases. He was currently in Italy, knee-deep in the pursuit of a notorious French criminal group hiding in the country’s shadows. Now he was heading back to the beginning, and strangely heading into something new. And who else was better to share the misfortune of this newest case? The bane of his existence. France’s new darling joy. Kylian Mbappé.He scrambled out of bed to grab a cup of coffee. It was going to be so great to be back.